Golden Corral Las Cruces

I enjoyed it. It's always good. The only bad thing is that they moved it to the other side of town. �

Golden Corral has relocated as of January 2016 to the west side of town........no longer on Telshor.
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ALL REVIEWS WRITTEN PRIOR TO SUMMER OF 2016 ARE OUT OF DATE....NO LONGER VALID.
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Mr. Sensitive stopped in at Golden Corral in late July 2016 to check out the new location.  I found the new restaurant to be well managed, clean, roomy and very comfortable. I would have rated the ambiance a B+ but the loud noise from the fans and the music made it almost impossible to hear yourself think. Rate it a B- instead. The wait staff did a nice job overall. 

Today I sampled a variety of food. The tempura baked fish was actually quite good (B+). The fried chicken was not bad (B), the oriental dishes and fried rice were mediocre (C+), the meat loaf was fair (B-), the pot roast was pretty good (B+), the dinner rolls were ok....but a little dry (C+), the creamed spinach was so-so (B-), the little burger sliders were hardly edible...dry and over cooked... (D), a breaded pork cutlet  was ok (B-), the mashed potatoes were mediocre (C), and the steak fries were dry and cold.....pretty poor (D). As far as the desserts: the cherry cobblar was poor....made from a can...(D), the peach pie was poor....weird taste.....(D), the banana pudding was fairly good (B), and the pecan pie was pretty good (B). All-in-all, some food fairly good but much of it sub-par. Some was plainly not good at all. 

Rate the overall dining experience at the new Golden Corral.......THREE-AND-A-HALF STARS......meaning marginally better than a fast food joint. 

2016.......BOTTOM LINE: WILL I RETURN TO DINE HERE? I DON'T KNOW. PERHAPS NOT. IT'S NOT MY THING. 
The review below is thus NO LONGER VALID:  

 SURPRISE. ITS NOT TOO BAD. Now remember folks, this is a big buffet...lots of food for the masses! We don't expect Mobil five star dining here. And, a lot of families dine here, so, if you don't like to be around kids or folks with limited funds you might want to avoid the Golden Corral.

But first off we must dispense with the falsehoods: one poster (Mr. Blackhole) claims the place is dirty. It isn't. The place is a bit old, however, having been around awhile. But, it is essentially a clean restaurant considering how many people dine there daily. Another claims that it has horrible service??? What service?? It seems to me that you serve yourself here?? The woman working my section did a nice job clearing plates and brought me a drink refill without my asking. Another poster stated that the Golden Corral Buffet is over-priced!!!! You've got to be kidding??? I paid all of $8.59 including tax for a hell of a lot of food. How is that over-priced? Why pay any attention to such drivel???

BE VERY SCEPTICAL OF REVIEWERS WHO TRASH THREE OUT OF FOUR PLACES THEY REVIEW. We all know what their story is, don't we? Rather, let's looked for honesty and objectivity, let's see what Mr. Sensitive has to say:

I have eaten at a couple Golden Corral Buffets around the country in years past and I remembered them as being fairly good. But after recently dining at Furr's Buffet here in Las Cruces and experiencing its poor food, I was a little sceptical entering the doors of Golden Corral. The place is large...very large. IT GIVES THE IMPRESSION OF HAVING BEEN AROUND AWHILE, but the place, including the older carpet, was clean. The tables, chairs, and booths were clean and comfortable. All in all, not a bad ambiance. Rate it a B...perhaps a B-. But....if you are into great ambiance and don't care to eat among the masses, you might not want to try this (or any other) buffet.

This place is much, much more "user friendly" than Furr's buffet, although Furr's is newer and spiffier. It has an enormous selection of food...including Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and good old American comfort food. And unlike at Furr's...the food at Golden Corral appears to be real food and not something that comes from a box.

I sampled a wide variety to get a good overall impression of the food they provided. Here is some of what I found: The rotisserie chicken was quite good (B). The fried chicken was mediocre (C). The coating was not well seasoned and it needed more thickness. The cornbread stuffing was very good (B+) . I enjoyed it. The real made from scratch mashed potatoes were pretty good (B). The gravy was ok. The little garlic roll I did not care for (C). The meatloaf was actually pretty good. Rate it a B. It was far, far superior to that served at Furr's. The Bourbon Street chicken was pretty good (B). The Chinese BBQ ribs not so good (C). The fried okra was ok (C+). The fried clams not so good (C-). The hush puppies were pretty good (B-). The chicken fried streak was not very good...tuff and flavorless. Rate it a C minus. The white gravy to cover it with was tasteless. Pretty poor. (C minus). The salad bar was pretty decent with a nice variety. The salad dressing I used was quite good. The little Italian meatballs were tasty, but a little hard. The sauce on them however was quite good. Flavor wise they were right up there, but the texture leads me to rate them only a B to B minus.

The biggest surprise was the Chicken Parmesan. The Chicken Parm retained its juiciness and the coating was pretty good. The sauce over it was delicious. Now I am not going to argue that this Chicken Parm is equal to that served in a fine Italian restaurant, but it was quite good. Rate it a solid B.

Before I departed I just had to try some desserts, especially since the desserts were so bad at Furr's. These looked like real homemade desserts. The carrot cake was quite good (B) but the frosting used a little too much sugar. A chocolate torte was fairly good (B minus), and a slice of homemade apple pie was pretty good (B also). These desserts were all head and shoulders above those served out of a box at Furr's.

In the final analysis, this is a buffet and some food does sit around awhile. But, the choices are immense, the food is generally pretty good (mostly B with some in the C range), and unlike at Furr's where I sampled nothing I enjoyed, I did enjoy the meatloaf, chicken parm, and the cornbread stuffing. Their desserts were fairly good also.

Out of a possible five stars I am going to rate Golden Corral THREE-AND-A-HALF STARS. Based on the quality of the food, decent ambiance, immense selection, and the overall dining experience a three-and-a-half star rating would be appropriate....meaning, nothing great, but a little above average. If you want a great variety at a reasonable cost in a decent environment this could be your place. It may not please everyone but it probably will please most buffet lovers. Is it the world's best buffet? Of course not. But it is ok.

BOTTOM LINE: WILL I RETURN TO DINE? IT'S POSSIBLE, BUT I HAVEN'T IN SEVERAL YEARS.